2024-05-06 22:38:29 ¶ ●

Think it finally clicked for me why Hannibal cried crocodile tears in front of Bedelia in s1 finale after Will gets arrested. Hannibal and Bedelia’s relationship in s1 is this: Hannibal will pretend to be an average person in front of her like he does with everyone else, she knows he’s pretending, he knows that she knows, AND she is capable of ambiguously picking out whatever his lies are obfuscating; the very peripheries of his true inner self, and she will counsel that vague truth (mind you, Hannibal gives her NO context so she has very little to work with as a psychiatrist). Essentially, Hannibal goes to her with a desire to chat with someone. REALLY chat with someone. But because he refuses to show himself to anybody, in this game with Bedelia du Maurier, he will pretend to be a normal guy, and he finds it amusing and friendship-like (?) when she is able to get close (as much as her knowledge of him allows) to his true thoughts. Basically Hannibal has no friends and he needs someone to talk to about his nefarious deeds and achievements, but he has to do it in a roundabout way because he doesn’t want to reveal himself to anyone.

It’s a play!! It’s THEATRE!! He’s an actòr!! That’s really the entire dynamic of their therapy sessions in s1.

I don’t know how psychotherapists counsel psychopaths, but I imagine it’s similar to the way Bedelia intentionally treats Hannibal.